Life Lessons from a 67-Year-Old Model

Maye Musk has been modeling for over five decades—that's approximately 48 years longer than most modeling careers—and she's more successful now than ever. (You might recognize her from campaigns for Clinique or Revlon, billboards in Times Square, or Beyonce's "Haunted" video.) "I'm doing the best work I've ever done," says Musk in her tinny South African accent, speaking from her home in LA, where she lives near her son Elon (yes, that Elon, of multi-billion dollar SpaceX fame) and daughter Tosca, a Hollywood producer. "And to think that when I was 22, I believed I was over the hill!" Here, a few things Musk has learned since then.

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Work is about more than making money.

I've never wanted to stop working. When you've been so pushed for so long, feeling sick because you're worried about paying the rent, being financially set is just a bizarre feeling. I still really enjoy my work. I think that I'm just getting started, I really do. It's getting to be a fun ride. Can you imagine at 67, starting a new phase of life?

Younger isn't always better.

I started doing runway work when I was 15, and I remember meeting a model who was 30—ancient, for the industry—and everyone was so happy to see her. As I've gotten older, I've experience the same thing. People are just thrilled to see me modeling! When I come out at a runway show, people applaud. I think people my age are just so excited to be represented. At 28 I modeled "mother of the bride" outfits in a bridal show. When I moved to Toronto at 42, I did a cover shoot as a grandma. But I didn't care—I had three kids to feed. These days, I've been turned down for grandma shoots because they say I don't look like a grandma. I'm getting more high fashion shoots now than I've ever gotten—it's my best work ever.

Thinner isn't always better, either.

Right after I got divorced [at 31], it was a really stressful time, and I gained quite a bit of weight. I just ate my way through it. But then I became a plus-size model, which got me lots of work, because there were no other plus-size models at the time. Things were starting to change, and they were looking for different sizes, different ethnicities. There were really cool jobs all over South Africa, and I was in campaigns and TV commercials.

A beauty test shot of Maye Musk from the 1960s

Courtesy of Maye Musk

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Think bigger than bake sales.

When I was about 33, I went to this small town in South Africa to study for my master's degree in dietetics, and they needed to raise money for my scholarship fund. I asked how they normally did that, and they said, "We bake cookies and sell them, and make about $60." I said, "If I bake cookies, I will eat them before they get to the sale." I thought maybe I could raise more money teaching students to model. I could teach them to walk straight and pose for a photo, be relaxed in front of a camera, do their hair and makeup, and dress better, that kind of thing. So many people were interested that I wound up having three classes per week, and soon I had my own little school. We did a lot of runway shows for local stores, which I insisted the students be paid for, even if it was just a little, and it became another form of income. Later, when I moved to Toronto, I needed an office for my dietetics practice, and this modeling agency said that if I modeled for them and directed their modeling school, then I could have an office there for free. So it wound up being a small section of my career.

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Don't take no for an answer.

When Elon was 17 and my daughter was 15, they really wanted to move to Canada, where my family is from. I said no, because I wanted to do a PhD in Johannesburg, and I was getting lots of modeling work there. But Elon and I went over to visit, and while I was gone my daughter sold my home and my car and had a big garage sale with all my furniture. I came back, and all she needed was for me to finalize the sale, because it needed my signature! So I really had no choice. We started from scratch in Toronto. I found a rent controlled apartment and we made it work.

Live dangerously, carefully.

My parents were Canadian, and they wanted to explore the rest of the world. They thought Africa looked exciting, and there wasn't much information about it in 1950, so they just took their four kids with them to Cape Town. My dad had a Cadillac and a single-engine airplane. They planned to take us to Johannesburg, but when we flew over Pretoria, the streets were lined with bougainvilleas and my parents had never seen anything so beautiful—so that's where we landed and grew up. Every July we would go across the Kalahari desert. My dad would find a place to land—his motto was "live dangerously, carefully"—and then my mom would take the station wagon and join us and we would camp. I grew up in the happiest home—my parents were really adventurous, and I was very lucky. Now my older brother is a neurologist and neurophysiologist in Orange County. My older sister has passed away, but she was a home economics teacher and a Spanish dancer—she traveled all over Europe dancing in Moulin Rouge. And I have a twin sister, who is retired now and lives in Calgary. We FaceTime every night.

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Test shots of Maye Musk from the 1960s

Courtesy of Maye Musk

Don't fear the grays.

When I was approaching 60, I got sick of being blonde, so I decided to stop coloring my hair. I grew out the gray and I cut it short. People said, "You'll never work again with short gray hair," but it came out white and everybody loved it. I got a billboard in Times Square for Target and a billboard in Madison Square Garden for Verizon and my career took off. I started getting a lot of high fashion work then, too.

To look young, stay trendy.

Women who want to age well are always asking me how to do it, and the trick is that you have to change with fashion. In the 1960s, you wore fake eyelashes all the time, but now the trend is more natural looking. If you try to hold onto the old trends, then you'll look old. Even now with my white hair, I have to keep the cut very trendy looking. When it was growing out white, in 2007 and 2008, it was an actual trend, 'going white.' I would go to a club with my kids and people would ask about my hair, thinking I'd dyed it to look like that, and I was like, "It's natural!" The young girls were even dyeing their hair white. My advice for anyone who wants to go gray is that the growing out phase is ugly, so cut it short. It might come out salt and pepper, but you've got to get a trendy haircut, or else it'll look frumpy.

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Know your weaknesses.

Even still, if you put it in front of me, I will eat it. I only keep nutritious foods at home. People will bring me pastries, and even if it's from a fabulous bakery, I'll give it to the doorman, because I cannot have it around—my willpower is not that strong. And I can't have just a taste. I'll demolish the whole thing.

Don't overthink it.

I followed my parents' example: I grew up in a straight-talking, considerate, loving, happy family. All I wanted to do was provide the same, and I didn't give it much thought. I think my children were born the way they are; I just changed their diapers and fed them, encouraged them. I supported their projects, and they saw me pursue my projects; I just wanted people to eat better, and now Kimbal wants children in underprivileged schools to eat healthier food, and that's delightful. And Tosca just got an award for cystic fibrosis. And Elon wants to save the planet and conquer new planets, and what can I say? When I see him, I always say, "More people are telling me to tell you are doing a great job!" And he just works as hard as he can. I would like to think that his work ethic comes from our family. I was a working mom, and that never changed. That's why the kids were also independent.

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